Fighters of Midgard - Part 2

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is a continuation of the previous post, which can be accessed here.

Uuragan Oakwale was born on a cold winter night to dark elves Ertrilgor and Uurgael Oakwale, around 150 years ago, high up, somewhere within the range of the White Mountains. His father having the ability to control water and ice, while his mother controlled air, Uuragan inherited a balance of the two. Not much the social type, Uuragan spent his time practising air and frost spells, some times with his older brother, Uuniath. However, during one of they adventures, Uuniath fell to his death off a ledge while the brothers were practising some air spells. Uuragan never knew whether it was his fault or not, nonetheless, he always blamed himself. The only thing left of his brother was his ice sword, the reason why most of their tribe believed Uuragan's story of his brother's tragic death. However, there were those who never liked him, and much less upon learning of his brother's death. Playing a prank on him, these elves almost killed Uuragan in a similar way; only to be saved by a dark elf called Laenia. Becoming the best friendship Uuragan ever had, Laenia taught him much, as she was much older and experienced, especially in air spells. After some time, they decided to move down to civilisation, their road leading them to the city of Enligt; where they eventually joined the army, as it was in dire need of mages to complement the sword and arrow of the rest of the soldiers.

Born to Lord Ansgar Dalgaard of Enligt, Dean Dalgaard had to endure the misfortune of a brutal assault on this noble family for their wealth, at the age of three years old. Dean's sister, Sandela, seventeen years old at the time, managed to escape with him while their parents fought off the brigands who attacked their home. Sandela took her little brother to Bjorg, an elven friend who offered to protect the kid as long as he lived in the White Mountains with him. Dean never saw his sister again, but he did find out his parents were massacred on the night he left Enligt for the first time in his life. Growing up, Dean learned how to wield bow and arrow, hunting bear and wolf for meat and fur at the foot of the mountains, returning home in the snow with enough resources to help the tribe that helped him all his life. During one of his hunting trips, Dean was assaulted by bandits, who took all his loot, money, arrows and his bow. During his return to the mountain, he ended up surrounded by four bears; and without his weapons, defenceless. A dire wolf, chased away the beasts, saving the hunter. Naming his new friend Vargo, Dean returned to the mountains with his new companion who followed and helped him in all his adventures, During his time as a hunter for the tribe hi lived with, Dean found out that the men who attacked his family in Enligt were mercenaries from the island of Saarii, south of the mainland. He also learned the Lord Runo of Enligt was planning an invasion of the island, the perfect opportunity of the Dalgaard family to finally find vengeance.

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Fighters of Midgard - Part 1

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is continued in the next post, which can be accessed here.

Dan Scott, son of Dun, from the dwarven family Scott. Dun was one of the famed Fighters of the North, from a dwarf from Joki. From a young age, Dan learned what he could on the art of war, hunting for orcs who dare camp close enough to the military base with his father's guild. Learning how to ride a horse without falling off, he joined the Joki Cavalry when he was 68 years old, he joined in the hunt for frost trolls closer to the mountain range North of Joki. At the age of 76, he was cut off from the rest of the fighters on a hunt when his horse died, facing then a group of five trolls, each about twice as tall as he was, each of them ended up beneath his feet after a massive strike of his trusty two handed war hammer. At the age of 130, he joined the Army of Joki, being enlisted to any war Lord Runo declares and to protect the lands of Midgard from invaders.

The dark elf, Duryraen dar'Vuzmur, son of Filaren and Ahlysaaria, should have been dead a long time ago, which was the plan of the bandits who attacked his family when they were travelling from Portti to Enligt when he was still very young. Unreal as he thought it was, a group of large spiders emerged from the woods , killing most of the bandits and scaring off the rest, saving the young dark elf. Unfortunately, he was the only survivor of the the family, The spiders took Duryraen and raised him as best they could, but he left them at the age of 19 for civilisation. Capable to defend himself, he continued the journey towards Enligt, the journey that led to the death of his parents and little sister. Having nobody to help him on his arrival, he turned to the Thieves Guild of Enligt for help; he helped them acquire whatever they wanted, giving him a cut of the profits, which was more than enough for Duryraen. Although it was not what he intended to turn to, at times, he did resort to killing people who stood in his way, driving his daggers into a man's chest or slitting his throat if it was necessary. Learning of the prize set by the Lord of Enligt to every able bodied man or woman to join the army for an attack off the shores of the mainland, Duryraen quickly left the Thieves Guild and joined the army, where he could make a fortune while earning a living as one of the noble warriors of Enligt instead of being the face on a wanted poster.

Of human descent, Amal Cal grew up with the priests of Eir, the Goddess of healers, in one of the temples in Enligt. Many warriors came back from battles with grievous wounds and hunters with bites and scratches were healed at the temple, impressing the young Amal, he started learning alchemy to help them in making revitising potions and other cures to help the recovering patients. However, when he was of age, it was revealed to him that he possessed magical power, and given aid by the priests, Amal gained the much revered skill of healing magic. Never knowing who his parents were, he never had any ambition to find them, the priests of Eir were his family and he became a healer just like the men who raised him, using the spells he learned to cure illnesses and wounds alike. At the age of 48, he joined a group of soldiers from the Army of Enligt who landed in Kalastaja to help get back to Enligt to report back to Lord Runo.

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The History of Midgard

Disclaimer: this is my own version of Midgard, not the actual Midgard found in Norse Mythology.

The main land of Midgard, the land of man, created from the body of the giant Ymir when killed by Odin, the All-father. A map of the land can be found below.

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Enligt, home to the richest people of the continent, is the seat of power in Midgard. Lord Runo rules over the main land with brute force, taking over one city at a time. The capital city started off as a small town; its leader convinced his townsfolk to take up arms and attack its neighbouring villages, taking them over easily as they did not put up much of a fight. Resources, monetary and otherwise, forced from the smaller villages enabled the town to grow into a huge city, housing open markets, shops, blacksmiths, inns, a brothel, a temple, barracks and the famed Lord’s castle. Dark-Elves and Dwarves are commonplace in Enligt, working at local businesses as equals alongside men. Often covered in snowstorms descending from the White Mountains, the citizens of Enligt have grown a natural resistance to the bitter winters of the North.

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Portti, the harbour city of Midgard, home to all of the continent’s naval force and birth of all naval missions; the starting point of the Saarii Strike. The citizens of Midgard conduct all their commerce with other continents through Portti, ships leaving and anchoring in the harbor every week. The people of Portti are natural merchants and hagglers.

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The fishermen’s village of Kalastaja is one of the main sources of food for the main land, fish being sold all across Midgard. A small village by the sea housing only a few villagers and a pair of shops. The villagers make do by helping each other out like one big family. They travel to Joki for supplies and sell off some of their fish there, the majority of it being sold in Eligt. Their daily trips out to sea has given the citizens of Kalastaja a heightened sense of navigation and they are also renowned carpenters, maintaining their own boats even after the worst of storms.

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Joki, a ring fortress built by the army of Enligt after raiding the river town present before Lord Runo decided to take over, is found between Kalastaja and Enligt. The city now hosts the largest military base of Midgard. Children of Joki are all trained in the arts of combat from an early age, making the people of Joki the best warriors in the continent. Being at a central location, the army can be quickly mobilised to reach any part of the kingdom of Lord Runo to defend its reach.

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The White Mountains, home of the fiercest snow storms and the fabled frost trolls, are the the mystery of Midgard. Nobody knows much about the snowy heights; many adventurers who try to climb the mountains never come back. Rumors are spread that they are eaten by frost trolls. Other sensible stories involve them freezing to death, starving, or falling of the side of the mountain due to poor visibility during frequent snowstorms. A nomadic group of dark-elves are known to have lived on the lowest plateaus of the mountains, relying on hunting for food. These people never seem to stay in a city or town for too long and keep to themselves.

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The island of Saarii, a small island to the South East of the main land, the target of Lord Runo for years, sits south of Kalastaja. The last expedition sent to besiege the island resulted in a disaster, ten longships being destroyed in a massive storm, only a few survivors making it back to shore. Both Dwarves and Dark-Elves are known to have joined the Human rebels stationed on the island who do not approve of Lord Runo’s leadership style.

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